my microphone decided that the USB chip in it didnt want to work as audio technica intended so it just doesnt communicate volume control properly so windows amplified it by 80% on top of the full volume, so it sounded loud and blown out but 0% made the mic sound fine.
emailed audio technica and im now just hoping they give me the firmware for it so i dont have to do janky fixes with EQAPO and stuff too lol
sigh